Second Chance
by KateCayce
Summary: This story takes place a few years after the series. I have been playing with this ever since the series was on. Enjoy!
1. The Call

All characters from the TV series belong to ABC/Touchstone. The rest are inhabiting my brain.

**SECOND CHANCE**

Paul looked over as Kate entered the room. He watched as she slowly moved around the tables littered with the projects they were working on. She finally stopped in front of his workstation, and turned on a small device that jammed any bugs that were in the room.

"You know its time that you went back." Paul had been having this argument with Kate for nearly three years.

"I know. And I need to." Kate looked up at her surrogate uncle with eyes that were shining in anticipation, not in sorrow like they had for so long….

"I'll send the signal"

"Uncle Paul?"

Paul raised his eyebrow, a sign that Kate knew well. "Yes?"

"I'll miss you and Aunt Terezia"

Paul held out his arms and pulled Kate in to a long hug. "And we'll miss you Kate."

Solomon walked into the main workroom at the Veritas Foundation, and caught Maggie and Vincent's attention with a jerk of his head.

"Maggie, put a call in for the jet to be ready for us to leave in an hour."

"Where should I have the pilot put as the destination?" Maggie already had the phone in hand and was tapping in the speed-dial number for the pilot.

"Rome."

Maggie looked surprised at that answer. "Really?"

Solomon grinned at her. "Yes, Rome, really."

Nikko looked up from the computer where he was logging notes. "What's in Rome?"

Vincent and Solomon looked at each other for a moment, and Vincent smiled as he turned to Nikko. "Who."

"Excuse me?" Nikko was getting confused.

Solomon also smiled at his son. "Who is in Rome, not what."

"OK, who is in Rome?" Nikko was getting a little ticked at the cryptic nature of the conversation.

"That is a surprise." Solomon didn't want Nikko to know … not quite yet. "When we get there, you need to follow Vincent and my leads. Do you understand?" Solomon held Nikko's gaze for a moment to get Nikko's attention.

"Things could get dangerous very quickly." Vincent moved over toward Nikko. "Things must be perfectly timed and executed."

"I got it. Follow your lead and do as you do."

Calvin barked a laugh. "That would be a first!"

Nikko ducked as Solomon reached out to ruffle his hair. "OK, I got the message loud and clear, guys."

"How much gear do we need to pack?" Juliet looked up from the book she was reading.

Solomon looked at each of the team members. "It's just going to be an in and out operation. We should be back in less than a day. Don't bring anything unless it's necessary."

The team jumped into action. Calvin and Nikko both grabbed their laptops, while Maggie and Juliet grabbed coats for everyone.

Solomon and Vincent drifted toward the entryway ahead of the others.

"Is she ready to come home?" Vincent asked quietly.

"Uncle Paul said she's been ready for quite some time, but she's been a little scared…."

Vincent looked surprised. "Kate afraid of anything? That doesn't sound like her."

"She's had a lot of time to think about everything that's happened in her life and she has not lead a boring one." Maggie snuck up behind the men.

"You've been talking with her?" It was Solomon's turn to be surprised.

Maggie looked at the men. "Are you surprised? Kate is a good friend."

Solomon grinned at Maggie. "Kate is a lot of things."

Vincent laughed. "Yes, she is."

Solomon looked at his watch. "Let's go, people!"


	2. Escape

"Hey, Dad?"

"Mmhm?" Solomon was checking his watch while Vincent was giving direction to their cab driver.

"Where exactly are we going?" Nikko looked out the cab window as the vehicle lurched into drive.

"We are going to Uncle Paul's museum."

"Uncle Paul?" Nikko couldn't disguise the hint of excitement in his voice.

"Yeah, it's been too long since we've seen him. He has a few new discoveries that he wants to share with the Foundation."

Nikko caught Vincent and Solomon sharing a look. "There's got to be more than that to this trip."

Solomon looked squarely at his son. "What makes you think something is up?"

"You both look kinda antsy."

"Antsy?" Vincent raised an eyebrow.

"OK, nervous."

"That's better. I don't think anyone has every described Vincent as 'antsy'." Solomon tried to smother a chuckle, but soon the three of them were sharing a laugh.

"Hey, we're here already." Solomon looked out the window as the cab slowed to the curb.

"Nikko, remember to follow our lead." Solomon put his hand on his son's shoulder after climbing out of the cab.

"Yeah, Dad. You lead, Me follow."

Solomon looked at Vincent. "Are we ready?"

"As ready as we'll ever be." Vincent grinned back.

The men found themselves ushered into a series of offices in the non-public area of the museum. Solomon and Vincent took seats on the leather sofa while Nikko wandered around, looking at the pictures on the walls.

"Hey, see the one of your Mom and Paul just to the left?" Solomon had the placement of that one photo memorized from many earlier visits.

"Yeah. And there's one of Grandpa Alex and Uncle Paul right next to it."

Solomon winced at the mention of his father while Nikko was turned away. "Yeah, and the one below it has both of your grandfathers and Paul back when they were at Princeton together."

"Yeah, back in the Dark Ages." Paul Cooper stood in the doorway to his office.

Solomon stood and walked to his surrogate uncle. "It's been too long."

Paul held out his arms and the men embraced. "Yes, way too long." He looked over Solomon's shoulder as they parted. "That can't be Nikko. He's too tall."

Nikko walked over to the others and smiled. "Yes, it's me, Uncle Paul. You haven't seen me since I was a little kid."

"Hey, to me you still are a little kid." Paul grabbed Nikko in his arms. "But you're a bit more of armful than you used to be."

Solomon laughed. "And more of a handful too."

"I thought I was always a handful?" Nikko looked over at his dad with laughter in his eyes as Vincent started laughing.

"Like father, like son, Solomon?" Paul winked as his godson.

"Oh, look at this precious family reunion! How _wonderful _!" Sarcasm flowed as a woman entered from a second door across the room.

The men turned toward the woman. Nikko's eyes widened in surprise. "Aunt Kate!"

"Hey, Nicolo." Kate held her arms out as Nikko rushed to give her a hug. "Oh my big boy." Kate murmured as she held her now-grown nephew, closing her eyes to savor the feeling. After a moment they parted and her eyes snapped open to focus on Solomon. "Have you come to Rome to drag me to New York by my hair?"

Solomon sighed as he answered, "Yes, Kate, it's time you came home."

"And who determined that? I sure didn't!" Kate narrowed her eyes at Solomon.

"Kate…."

She turned toward Vincent, who had called to her. "You! Don't you even get started! I have had my fill of your meditative crap!"

"Aunt Kate? Dad?" Nikko looked, confused, at Kate and Solomon.

They both turned toward him, ready to take him on also when a piercing whistle cut through the air.

"Enough!" Paul held up his hands as if he was trying to ward off the bad feelings. "You should just go and get this over with!"

"Uncle Paul, _THANKS_ for everything!" Kate bit out the words just before going out the door with Vincent, Nikko, and Solomon on her heels. She walked to a the third door down, reached in and grabbed her coat and bag.

"Are we ready?" Solomon helped her put on her blazer.

Kate's eyes snapped a reply as she turned on her heel and marched down the hallway to the entrance.

The men followed at a slower pace. After they cleared the entrance, they found Kate waiting for them at the curb with a taxi waiting.

"Get in. _Now _!" Kate was agitated and it was showing in her voice.

Vincent scanned the crowds nearby. "Who have you seen?"

"The office has a hidden camera and several bugs in it. I haven't seen anyone since we left the building." Kate winked at Nikko.

"Is this cab safe?" Solomon asked.

"It better be with Gianni driving!" Kate turned to smile at Solomon.

He shook his and smiled. "You thought of everything."

"Dorna goons at 2 o'clock." Vincent was still scanning the crowd as they climbed in the cab.

"Got it. Everyone ready?" Paul's older son Gianni asked from the driver's seat as he put the car in gear.

"With you behind the wheel? Never!" Solomon laughed at his childhood friend.

Kate rested her head on Solomon's shoulder. "I missed you guys…."

Solomon brought his arms around to hold Kate. "I know what you mean."

"So what just happened back there?" Nikko was still trying to sort out everything in his head.

"We just faked hating each other so Tollan and his thugs might leave us alone until we get back to New York. And to keep Paul and his gang safe." Kate could read the confusion in her nephew's face. "We'll talk more on the plane."


	3. Home Again

The plane was waiting for them, and Maggie, Calvin, and Juliet had beaten them back from the task Solomon had sent them on. Everyone got on board after saying goodbye to Gianni, and the plane lifted off.

"You can relax now." Solomon saw that Kate's fingers were boring into the armrests of her seat.

Kate looked up at him. "Maybe now. But I won't feel completely safe until we touch down in New York."

"OK, anybody want to clue me in?" Nikko had left his seat and come over to his dad and aunt.

Kate and Solomon looked at each other and smiled.

"We have been pretending for the last 10 years that we have had profession AND personal differences of opinion." Kate glanced at Nikko to check if understood her, then she walked over to Vincent and grabbed him in a long, deep kiss.

"Boy, pick your jaw up." Solomon laughed at the expression on Nikko's face.

Nikko looked at his dad. "Kate and Vincent?"

"For the better part of 20 years." Vincent smiled at Nikko's discomfort.

"It's been that long?" Kate looked at Vincent with a bit of shock on her face.

"You were only 20 when we met, and I believe that you…."

"Don't say it! I absolutely refuse to admit to being that old!"

"It's really not that bad." Maggie out her arm around Kate to comfort her.

"Says who?"

"Says me." Solomon got right into Kate's face.

"That's right. You'll always be older than me!" Kate brightened up. "I noticed we have more of an audience," nodding towards Calvin and Juliet.

"You remember Calvin, don't you? And Juliet was Nikko's tutor for his last year of high school." Solomon introduced his former students to Kate.

"Calvin, I had you in Intro to Archaeology before…." Kate's voice trailed off.

"Before what?" Nikko asked.

Kate looked somberly at Nikko before she replied, "Before my life changed completely. It's a very long story that I'll tell you soon."

Nikko let the matter drop, but he made a mental note to ask Cal or Juliet if they knew what was going on.

Kate turned toward Maggie. "Did you get everything out of Paul and Terezia's home?"

"I think we got everything, including the crates Terezia sent with us."

Kate was pleased. "Good, those crates are my presents to the Foundation."

"Did I hear that you brought me goodies?" Solomon called from across the plane.

"Yep, I got some good stuff. But it's down in the cargo hold, and I am NOT going to freeze my butt off to satisfy your curiosity." Kate stuck her tongue out and gave Solomon the raspberries.

"Brat."

"Old Man." Kate walked over to Solomon.

"God, I missed you." Solomon drew her in for a hug.

"Me too."

Just after the plane landed safely back in New York, Maggie took one vehicle back to the office along with Calvin, Juliet, and all of Kate's things from Rome.

"Solomon, can we stop someplace first?" Kate looked at him with serious eyes.

"Is it to where I think it is?"

"Yes. I have to…."

"Yeah. I know." Solomon got into the drivers seat as Vincent steered Nikko towards the passenger seat. Kate got in the back along with Vincent.

The car steered towards a beautiful cemetery. Solomon knew exactly where to go once they cleared the front gates. Once he got to the right row, he stopped the car, and Kate jumped out. Vincent followed more slowly, while Solomon and Nikko sat in the car for a silent minute before getting out to join them.

Nikko saw that the headstones to the left were for his grandparents Jonathan and Katherine Cayce, his mother and Kate's parents. He was shocked by the fact his mother had a stone next to her parents, even though they had never found her body. He was definitely confused by the stone Kate was in front of—a small stone that said "Augustus Hale Siminou".

Nikko nudged his father. "Who is Augustus Hale Siminou?"

Solomon took a deep breath. "Your cousin. Kate and Vincent's son."

"Dorna took him from us. Before he was even born." Kate got up and dusted her hands off. She looked at all her men. "Let's go home."

The next morning, Solomon was enjoying a cup of coffee, hovering over Maggie's shoulder as they both read the test results from a previous days' work. Calvin and Juliet were over at another work station while Nikko was coming in from the kitchen.

Kate stopped as she and Vincent walked into the office. She got kind of misty-eyed as she looked at her fellow team members, finally able to be back in their midst.

Solomon looked up. "Hey, you're late!" He laughed as he caught Vincent's eye.

"We had a lot of catching up to do." Vincent was in a great mood that morning.

"Oh really?" Maggie turned to give Kate a look of pure curiosity.

Kate started laughing hysterically. "Oh great, my sex life is now the talk of the office!"

Solomon groaned. "I don't want to know anything!"

"You still think of me as little sister." Kate patted him on his cheek as he reached for a chair.

"So, little sis-in-law, what did you bring me?"

"On to the real work. Cal, can you and Nikko go grab those two crates?"

"Yeah." The guys went over to another part of the office and each got a crate. Once they had set them in the middle of the room, they pried the lids off. The crates were full of computer disks.

"This is what you brought me?" Solomon had a disappointed edge to his voice.

"You think Uncle Paul or the Italian government would let me out of Italy with everything I would have liked to bring back?"

"Of course not." Vincent jumped into the conversation.

"I have detailed analyses on every artifact of interest both currently on display in Paul's museums, and on the contents of warehoused artifacts that have never been seen in public."

"And by analyses you mean…." Solomon wanted to know the extent of these many disks.

"By analyses I mean the precise measurements, physical mass, extensive photographs from every conceivable angle, detailed sketches of the artwork, text files of the actual text, translations or rough estimates. You know, the usual stuff." Kate pointed to the top disk. "Maggie, this is the index of the disks."

"And those red ones?" Maggie was already reaching for the flagged disks.

Kate closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Those are very special." She turned toward Solomon. "What is the one major thing that has gotten out of our hands in the last twenty years?"

"Three of the crystal skulls?" Solomon asked.

"The power source in Antarctica?" Nikko piped up.

"da Vinci's diary?" Calvin added.

Kate leveled a look at everyone. "I see we have been losing things since I haven't been around. Think really hard. What have we been looking for since the minute we lost it?"

Solomon looked amazed. "You didn't."

Kate smiled. "Yep, I did."

Nikko was confused. "What did you get?"

"It took a bit of work, and Vincent and Solomon may kill me when they find out how we got it, but I got a copy of a computer disk that has Haley's artifact catalog on it. Almost all of it."

Solomon and Vincent glanced at each other. Solomon had the nerve to ask the question, "How did you get this?"

Kate looked guiltily at the men. "Gianni and Franco found out that it was accessible from Tollan's base in Geneva."

"You broke into Tollan's chateau?" Vincent was angry with his wife at risking so much.

"Actually Gianni and Franco did. I was out in the van, getting their feed from the computers."

"Wait, you said it was almost all of it." Solomon shook his head to clear it.

Kate looked him in the eye. "It's missing the contents of 2 digs. France and Peru."

Nikko joined in. "France would have been that Templar church where you got the ring, right Dad?"

Solomon nodded. "And Peru would have been the Temple of the Veracoche."

"I don't know where those artifacts are. Gianni and Franco asked around a bit, but nothing ever turned up."

"What matters is that Kate is back, and now we have some cataloging to do." Maggie tried to get everyone's thoughts to what they got instead of what they were missing.

"Okay, let's get to work!" Solomon started doling out disks for everyone to analyze.

Later that night, Kate and Vincent were enjoying a quiet, romantic dinner for two in their flat.

"I have missed you." Vincent took his wife's hand and kissed it.

"I was so numb that first year after losing Augustus. I couldn't feel a thing. It was so much worse than when I lost my parents and later Haley."

"They say losing a child is the worst pain you will feel." Vincent tightened his grip on her hand.

"Then the second year I was just angry. It didn't matter who or what. I was just angry." Kate laughed. "I think if Tollan had come in the room, I would have torn him to shreds."

"That would be a sight to see." Vincent chuckled.

"Then I have just been missing you." Kate leaned forward to kiss her husband. "And Solomon, and Nikko, and everyone else here in New York."

"And the Foundation."

Kate looked under her lashes at Vincent. "You know me too well."

"Haley and Solomon raised you to be a bit of a work-a-holic."

"Question."

"I may have the answer."

"Does Solomon know who the benefactor REALLY is? I know he knows him as Jacques DeMolay, but does Solomon have any clue that DeMolay is one of Dorna's Council of Nine?"

"No."

"Should we tell him?"

"If DeMolay wants Solomon to know, he will tell him. He will be safer by not knowing the truth."

Kate looked skeptically at Vincent. "Are you sure? This is Solomon and Nikko's life we are talking about."

"Solomon and Nikko are safer by not knowing that part of the truth. For now." Vincent pulled Kate closer to him.


End file.
